A huge fire which caused Bournemouth beach to be evacuated started after a mother boiled a kettle to treat a suspected weever fish sting, MailOnline can reveal.
Fiona Tew was at the beach hut with her sister-in-law Lainey Norman, 39, and five children when her nephew rushed in saying he had been stung by a fish.
The mother-of-two put the kettle on using their gas stove and left Jamie, 14, in the beach hut to get some more water to pour over her nephew’s skin.
Revealing how the fire started, Fiona’s mother-in-law Marilyn Tew told MailOnline: ‘Inside the beach hut there is a small gas stove. Someone put the kettle.
‘The next thing they knew someone shouted, ”The hut’s on fire!” They turned round and could see flames leaping from the beach hut. It all happened so quickly.’
Fiona Tew was at the beach hut with her sister-in-law Lainey Norman, 39, and five children when her nephew rushed in saying he had been stung by a fish
In the video taken close to the evacuated Highcliff Marriott hotel, a car hastily reverses away from the roadside where thick smoke and huge flames were thrown up by the sea breeze on Monday afternoon
Burnt out gas canisters are seen in the aftermath among the charred remains of the timber-framed beach hut which caught fire
Emergency services scrambled to the West Undercliff area, where a cordon was erected and sun-bathers were evacuated. The fire quickly spread from the burning beach huts and has blazed a path of destruction up 100sqm of heath where photos show it is perilously close to the cliff-top hotel and other homes
The beach huts are available to rent from Bournemouth Council and all of them are fitted with a gas cooker
Marilyn, from Bournemouth, Dorset, said Fiona’s husband Gavin, a personal trainer who keeps weights in the hut and runs fitness classes on the beach, missed the family day out to play golf.
Gavin is at the beach this morning picking through the charred timber remains of what is left of their family beach hut, she said.
The grandmother-of-five said the family, who were on the sand when it happened, could only watch in horror as the flames took hold and leapt up the tinder dry gorse bank.
‘Our family has had a beach hut for many years. We had one and my parents had one. It is quite devastating. One of my grandchildren was standing on the beach when someone saw smoke and told him the hut was on fire.
‘There was no time to get anything. All of their possessions have been destroyed. My daughter Lainey has had to go round to opticians to get new glasses for the children as they were destroyed.
The remains of a neighbouring beach hut is seen to the right of where the burnt out hut formerly stood (on the far left), while another hut (centre) has had its left side severely damaged in the inferno
The inferno decimated swathes of gorse on the cliff face rising above Bournemouth’s iconic promenade
Due to the gorse being tinder-dry and a strong southerly breeze fanning the flames, a huge 100ft long strip of the sloping cliff was set alight
Firefighters tackle the blaze from the top of the cliff just yards away from the four-star Highcliff Marriott Hotel
The scorched cliff-side being doused by a fireman inside a cherry picker yesterday afternoon – the burnt out huts can be seen on the promenade
‘My son Gavin kept his fitness equipment inside the hut and they are all ruined. The hut was not insured.’
Marilyn added Fiona and her daughter were ‘badly shaken up’ by what had happened, but grateful that no one was seriously hurt.
She praised the fire service who tackled the blaze and prevented it spreading along the row huts. ‘Our family use the hut almost every day. We are there all the time.’ Among those closest to the blaze was Jonty Hughes.
Terrifying footage shot by other beachgoers showed red flames spewing up from Bournemouth beach over a cliff and up to the road above.
In the video taken close to the evacuated Highcliff Marriott hotel, a car could be seen hastily reversing away from the roadside where thick smoke and huge flames were thrown up by the sea breeze on Monday afternoon.
The beach hut burning on Monday afternoon (left) and its charred remains with gas burnt out gas canisters on the ground (right)
Firefighters are battling a huge blaze on Bournemouth beach after three beach huts went up in flames
The hot, dry weather and strong breeze provided the fire with excellent conditions to rip its terrifying path up the cliff face
Sunbathers had earlier fled in terror after a man rushed out of one of the rented huts along the beach and shouted for people to get back because he feared a gas canister inside could explode.
The fire spread to two adjacent huts and the southerly breeze soon fanned its flames onto the tinder-dry gorse behind, through which a 100ft tract of destruction was torn.
Eight fire crews raced to scene at 3.50pm and put out the fire in the beach huts and set about tackling the fire raging through the dense vegetation on the cliff.
The blaze on the cliff was eventually brought under control and South Western Ambulance Service said there were no reports of any injuries.
The beach had been packed with thousands of sunbathers soaking up the 23C sunny weather when the fire broke out.
Fitness instructor Gavin was not at the beach but playing golf. Mr Hughes, 22, from Bournemouth, said: ‘I was about 60ft from it when the fire first started – just inside one beach hut.
Other beach huts were destroyed and badly damaged by the fire which raged up the gorse-covered cliff face on Monday afternoon
The fire appears to have totally destroyed at least two beach huts, with others left severely damaged by the blaze with was started by a gas stove
Unconfirmed reports suggest the fire was sparked by one of the burning beach huts before quickly engulfing 100sqm of heath
Emergency services have scrambled to the area between Bournemouth Pier and Branksome beach, where sun bathers have reportedly been evacuated
Eight fire crews raced to scene at 3.50pm and put out the fire in the beach huts and set about tackling the fire on the cliff. The blaze on the cliff has now been brought under control and South Western Ambulance Service said there were no reports of any injuries.
‘A guy came running out shouting for people to get back as there was a small gas canister down the side of his beach hut.
‘He kept shouting for people to get out of the way and when it did reach the gas there were loads of pops, which sounded almost like aerosols.
‘The wind pushed the flames up the cliff face and the fire just rose all the way up from there. It was unbelievable.’
Tracey Steadman, a district nurse from Derbyshire, is on holiday in Bournemouth with her three children, who are aged 18, 14 and 13. She said there was no sudden explosion but that she heard several pops once the fire was underway.
Mrs Steadman, 48, said: ‘I didn’t hear a bang or anything like that. I just turned around and saw a huge plume of smoke.
‘There were flames erupting from one hut and people were forced to leave their possessions on the beach to get away safely.
‘There was no time to pack up things like wind-breaks, people just had to abandon them on the sand. I saw a few of the other huts catch fire and the wind blew the flames onto the hill which went up so quickly.
‘Thankfully we were about 160ft away but the fire was absolutely huge. The police arrived within minutes but unfortunately the fire brigade were slightly behind them so by the time they got there, the hill was already in flames.
‘Firefighters had to climb onto the hill to try and put it out and after that there was just a huge amount of smoke.’
Firefighters douse the cliff face after bringing the worst of the fire under control yesterday afternoon
Firefighters spray the scorched huts with a hose after the beach was cleared of visitors
Police officers are photographed close to the carnage yesterday as the beach was evacuated
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Brigade said: ‘Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently dealing with a fire on West Undercliff in Bournemouth, affecting three beach huts and approximately 100 sqm of heath on the cliff face.’